Permanent migration into OECD countries fell by about 7% in 2009 to 4.3 million people. It is the second consecutive year of decline after a decade of growth. Recent national data suggest migration fell further in 2010.

During the crisis, immigrants have been hard hit by job losses, but the situation is not entirely bleak. More migrant women have joined the labour force, to compensate for job losses among migrant men.

One long-term trend which is holding up through the jobs crisis is international student migration. It has been increasing steadily over the past decade and there are now more than 2.3 million international students in OECD countries. About one in four will stay in the countries in which they studied, providing an increasingly important source of skilled workers.